Week 2-01 Walkshop

Due to the weather the walkshop was cancelled on the tuesday. My freind Bec and I came back to the city on the wednesday to try and do the walk then however it was still raining. We went and had a look at the site anyway by catching the ferry and walking along the river walk. This way we could see the site from how a pedestrian would.

This is a view from the river walk over towards the site.

This is the view from above the site towards the city.

  There are high cliffs running along the north of the site.

Initial sketches of the site from the walkshop. One from the top of the site over the bridge towards the city and another of what the view from site would possibly be. I think that the most optimal position for the follie to be would be on the estern side at the most southern point of the site as this would give the best views.

The above sketch is a rough site analysis showing trees and shrubbery, the sun path and structures around the site. The site faces South west meaning that there isn't the strongest light angles on the site. There are two main sheds on the site that are heritage listed so they cannot be destroyed.

 

This is a analysis of the lighting around the site at night. I tried to capture how the city lights interacted with the site. As it can be seen in the first image from the city and only lighting around the site is above it on the cliffs and on the storey bridge. From the site the lighting is more extensive in the tall city sky scrapers and and on the bridge. It is quite a beautiful view at night. This could perhaps be captured in the design for our folie using mirrors and specific placement of windows/openings.

Week 1

The site that has been selected for this semester projects is one that I am somewhat familiar with as I did a previous assignment for ‘Placemaking in architecture’, in the same area. To my knowledge the Howard smith wharves has factors associated in its history in WW2, the development of Brisbane and the story bridge. It will require more research into the area to understand the sites complexities. These factors will help to develop a more effective design. 

In the reading “Paris/ La Villette” the author talks about the development of a parkland in La Villette north of paris. It is identified that as part of the competition which this architecture was design for, there was a need for the promotion of French culture. This is similar to our design for the Howard smith wharves in that we want to promote the culture of the area in particular Brisbane culture which isn’t particularily obvious in many parts of Brisbane. This is comparison to other major cities in Australia such as Sydney and Melbourne that have strong cultural identity. Tschumi used pedestrian circulation paths and basic layers of shapes and lines to come to his final design. So in analysing how the site would be used by people will help us to come up with a more effective design. This is somewhat difficult due to its current condition. It is currently an empty worksite in desolate condition after the 2011 floods.

As the article explains “readability, Rigor and simplicity of expression, combined with complexity of reasoning and multiple possibilities…” is what made this design win the competition and because of this is still successful today. These are things we need to look into in our development in order for the public to be drawn into and utilise the space.